Harvest Heist
by huntdaddy
Summary: When their families' prized vegetables turn up missing, it's up to Warren Loud and his 25 rabbit sisters to find the culprit and the veggies. For those wondering which sister is which, go to Nickipedia/TheLoudRabbits.
1. Morning Surprise

On an autumn morning, Warren Loud and his 25 sisters were sleeping peacefully in their hole as the sun had just begun to rise. All of a sudden, their dad, Benny busted into each room with pure joy, shouting, "Rise and shine, young hoppers! Wakey, wakey, my little cottontails! Up and at 'em, my precious bun-buns!"

He repeated this at least 10 times until all of his children had climbed out of bed. They were all very groggy, but they knew what day it was.

"Ugh, dad", groaned Betty the oldest sister. "You know I got the morning wake-up calls handled."

"Woah, sorry pumpkin", Benny eagerly replied, "but I just can't help getting everything prepared for the big day first thing in the morning! Everyone have their breakfast, we got some crop-picking to do!" He squealed with ecstasy as he ran off to get prepared, before stopping in his tracks. "Wait! ...23, 24, 25. Someone's missing!" He peered into one of the rooms, where Beth, the sleepy sister, was still snoozing away. Benny quickly pulled out an airhorn and blared it, startling Beth out of her slumber."What!? Who!?" she stammered, suddenly wide awake.

"Hop to it, honey bunny!" Benny cried. "There's a quadruple espresso waiting for you in the kitchen." Benny zipped off as Beth groggily made her way to the kitchen.

As Warren and his sisters had their breakfast, some of the kids voiced their opinions on what was to come. "Ah, harvest day," sighed Beverly, the kind-hearted. "It's always such a pleasure to help Dad collect his beautiful vegetables, isn't it?"

"If by pleasure, you mean time-consuming and boring as heck, then yes, exactly!" scoffed Brenda, the grouchy.

"Yeah, I hate to be the negative type, but it's always such a drag, man," replied Bodhi, the hippie sister.

"It takes us almost an hour to pick one row of corn alone", stated Beatrice, the smart sister.

"Yeah, and it's nothing but bending and standing for what feels like forever," said Bertha, the athletic sister. "Even I think that there's better use of energy".

"Plus there are lots of health risks from being out in the sun too long!" lamented Blanch, the hypochondriac sister.

A bunch of the sisters clamored loudly in agreement and annoyance, until Warren decided to stop the commotion.

"GUYS!" shouted Warren, "I know harvest day isn't exactly fun, but dad works very hard on his crops every year, and we all know how much this means to him. The least we can do is show him support and help him to pick them."

"Warren's right," chimed Brie, the chef. "If it weren't for dad, we wouldn't have my carrot delicacies every year."

"See, there ya go!" Warren replied with encouragement.

"And we wouldn't have a high vitamin-C diet for weeks!" said Bailey, the coach sister.

"Yeah! Good call!" Warren responded with a wink and a point.

"And we wouldn't get to see all that sparkly dew on the vegetables!" cooed Brandy, the easily distracted sister, with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah… sure, exactly!" Warren replied hesitantly. "So what do you say, sisters?"

The sisters exchanged looks, then turned back to Warren and nodded with enthusiasm and determination. "Let's do it!" they cried simultaneously.

"That's the spirit!" cheered on Warren, "Now, let's…

"Ah, ah ah!" Betty sternly interrupted her brother, "You know the rules, brother!"

"S-sorry, Betty", Warren nervously replied.

"Alright gang, let's move out!" bellowed Betty. She marched toward the back door, with all of her sisters following.

"Well, hopefully today we'll get done sooner", Brenda grumpily stated as everyone marched out the door.

Birdie, the bookworm sister, peered up from her book and replied, "As long as Bianca doesn't decide to paint a landscape of the garden first."

"Excuse me, Bianca, the artist sister replied indignantly, "but nature is a painting unto itself! It would be a crime to ignore that fact!" Birdie rolled her eyes at her sister's retort.

However, as soon as all the Loud children were out the back door, everyone froze in shock and confusion at what they saw, or rather, what they didn't see.

"Um, any idea where the crops are?" quizzed Bertha.

"Woah dudes, Dad must have really gotten excited today", stated Barbara, the guitarist sister. "It looks like he harvested everything already."

"Or," replied Warren, "someone else must have harvested them."

"Oh, that was nice of them!" said Brandy innocently.

"No, Brandy", Betty corrected her sister, "he means someone stole the vegetables!" All of the sisters gave a loud gasp in response.

Benny, clad in his farmer's hat and vest walks over to the children with gardening tools in his hands. "Hey, kiddos!" he remarked. "Go ahead and pick a tool of your…" He stopped and widened his eyes at the sight of the massive, empty garden soil. He dropped the tools in his hands and screamed, "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY VEGETABLES?!"


	2. The Hunt is On

Upon hearing her husband's cry, Benny's wife, Becky, came out to see what the ruckus was.

"Honey, remember what the exterminator said. The weevils have been taken care of for good."

She stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw the empty garden.

"Oh no!" Becky exclaimed in shock. "How could this have happened?!"

"I-I-I I have no idea!" Benny stammered. "I checked my garden every day and night, and not a single thing was out of place. But-but, everything's just _gone _now!"

"Pop, is there anything we can do?" Betty respectfully asked.

"No, I don't want you guys to waste y'all's day for my sake," Benny solemnly replied.

"WHAT!?" all the kids screamed in unison. "We can't let you handle this mess on your own!" Warren said.

"Yeah, were a team!" replied Bailey.

"More than that, we're a family!" exclaimed Beverly, to which all of the kids shouted "YEAH!".

Benny received a text message on his phone. It was from Bridget, the texting sister, and it read "Got your back, Pop! #FamilyForever". Benny was in tears of gratitude at his children's determination, but he quickly straightened his face up and said, "No, no. Thank you all, but this garden was my responsibility. I got careless with my vegetables, so it's my duty to correct my own mistake. Come on, Becky, let's call the K-9 patrol and see if they can track down our crops."

With that, Benny and Becky walked back inside, while all the kids remained outside. Betty stepped in front of the crowd of siblings and faced them. "You all know what this means, right?" she inquired them all.

"We get a day off from harvesting?!" Brenda replied eagerly. Bailey responded by elbowing her sister. "Ow!"

"No," said Betty, "it means we have to help Dad to track down his missing vegetables! He may not want to admit it, but he needs all the help he can get!"

"Betty's right", Warren agreed. "There are a ton of veggies that went missing, so it could take all day for the police to find them all, maybe longer. But with our help, from all 25 of us, we could help them find them even quicker!" All the sisters mumbled to each other in agreement.

"Sooo… how exactly do we do that?" asked Blair, the fashionista sister.

"We could each get a lucky charm,'' stated Bernice, the superstitious sister, "that way each of us could have a chance at finding them."

"Whoa, do you really have enough of those for all of us?" Bianca asked. "Sure!" responded Bernice, "I have one of each kind of charm for each sibling. I even got the premium package for Brooke." At that, a delivery man walked up with a large box. "Delivery for Brooke Loud!" he hollered. Brooke, the paranoid sister ran up to him in a flash and signed the paper. "Oh yes, thank you!" she cried with joy, before opening up the box, filled with all kinds of lucky charms, and embraced an armful of them firmly. "Oh please make this day better, please make this day better!" she muttered to herself.

"Well, we're gonna need a lot more than luck for this situation," Betty said. "Is there anyone who's good at tracking things down?"

"Well,'' stated Birdie, "I've been reading some mystery novels that have some really good techniques for finding suspects."

"Perfect!" said Betty. "Anyone else?"

"I could survey the area and look for any prints or forms of DNA," responded Beatrice. "I could also look for any samples that may lead us to what we're looking for."

"I could also chase down anyone who makes a run for it!" Bertha exclaimed, before starting up some squats.

"I can be sincere with people," said Beverly. "It helps to get the truth out of them."

"Well, not always, Bev, but this is a crisis," Betty sternly said. "Alright, who else?"

"Ooh, ooh!" Warren eagerly raised his hand. "No, Warren,'' Betty said, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "This is serious." "Pleeeeaaase?" begged Warren. "No!" barked Betty. "No Ace Bunny!"

"Come on, Betty!" said Warren. "You said so yourself, Dad needs all the help he can get, and Danny and I would be the perfect help."

Betty sighed loudly. "Fine, whatever, but just to make sure everything goes smoothly, everyone needs to be in a team!"

"Alright, a game plan!", chanted Bailey. "Let's do it!" Betty then had all the siblings gather in groups.

"Team One: Warren, Bethany, Bella, Bailey, and Brenda."

"Team Two: Birdie, Barbara, Blair, Bebe, and Belinda."

"Team Three: Beverly, Bridget, Bernice, Bianca, and Bernadette."

"Team Four: Beatrice, Brie, Beth, Blanch, and Bippa."

"And Team Five: Bertha, Brooke, Brandy, Beulah, Bodhi, and myself."

As soon as everyone was gathered up, Betty gave further instructions. "Each team will head toward each section of the forest, Team One willl search the north section, Team Two will search the west section, Team Three the south, Team Four the east, and my team will search the central area. Is everyone clear?"

"YES MA'AM! replied all the siblings.

"Good, now everyone spread out!" bellowed Betty.

As everyone moved out to their locations Warren gleefully pulled out his phone and dialed. "Danny", he said after his best friend picked up, "there's a big mystery afoot, one only that…"

"Say no more", said Danny on the other line. "It's time for Ace Bunny and One-Eyed Jack Beaver to shine again!"

"You said it, buddy!" Warren replied with delight. "Hoo hoo hoo hoo!" he chanted with Danny as he pumped his fist in the air. Suddenly, Bailey blew her whistle, causing Warren to jump. "Hey, bro!" she yelled. "Less geeking and more going!"

"Alright, we're headed toward the northward part of the forest". Warren whispered to Danny. "Meet us along the way."

"You got it, Ace," Danny replied before hanging up.

Team five remained behind briefly as all the other teams split up. Betty gathered her teammates around close and gave them a quick reassurance. "Now team, I hope everyone understands the stakes are high in this mission. There are prized vegetables that Dad put his blood, sweat and tears into growing and caring for that are in need of our rescuing, and I will be frank, there might be a few dangerous obstacles, but we need to keep pushing on for Mom and Dad. Is everyone with me?"

"All the way, sister!" said Bertha.

"Oh yes!" said Brandy.

"Yee-haw!" hollered Beulah, the cowgirl sister.

"Namaste", said Bodhi softly.

Everyone turned toward Brooke, who gulped and smiled nervously. "Oh, of-of course!" she said, trembling slightly. "J-just give me one second." She ran over to her box of charms and started embracing them again. "Please let us be safe, please let us be safe".

Betty groaned softly. "Alright, troops, let's get a move on! That goes for you too, Brooke!"

Brooke, who was still kneeling over by her box turned around quickly. "Oh, okay, I'm coming!" She carried a bunch of charms in her arms. "And leave the charms, for corn's sake!" Betty grumbled with her hand in her face. Brooke immediately dropped her charmed and ran to catch up with her group. The hunt was on for the vegetables!


	3. Team One

As Team One made their way toward the north part of the forest, each of the teammates pondered over who might have stolen their dad's garden. Warren was clad in his Ace Bunny suit and leading the crew down the trail.

"It's really weird how someone can just take Dad's whole garden without him finding out," said Warren. "Dad always makes sure that all his vegetables are safe and secure".

"That's putting it mildly," Brenda grumbled. "Do you remember how he stayed up every night to patrol the garden?"

"Yeah, and how he got that huge dome just to protect it from the wind?" said Bethany, the organized sister.

"Don't forget the pesticide overload after he saw a ladybug nymph" moaned Bella, the emo sister. "Sigh, even the small things in our world get completely overlooked."

Everyone took a brief pause after Bella's anecdote, then suddenly broke out laughing. "Yep, classic Dad!" Bailey snickered. Brenda was the only one not laughing. Instead, she huffed, "Why are we even bothering with this? Those veggies can be literally anywhere in the forest! And how do we know someone didn't already eat them up or something?"

"Well we won't know until we find out," Bailey replied, "and we can't leave Mom and Dad in the lurch, so be a good sport!" Brenda just crossed her arms and scowled, "Mmm, I guess you're right."

The gang reached the riverside. "Alright guys, this looks like a good place to get some information."

"Okay, "Ace"," Bethany said to Warren, so how do we start looking for clues?"

"Well…", Warren thought it over hard. He looked around the area, and saw nothing particularly suspicious. Nothing but beavers, muskrats, ducks, and other kind-looking riverfolk minding their own business. "It doesn't look like any of these guys are really the type to steal vegetables, but then again, I'm not too familiar with the guys who live around here."

"No problem!" Bethany pitched in, pulling out her pencil and paper. "I'll just list off all the river dwellers and we can ask each one of them individually."

"Not a bad idea, Bethany," said Warren, "but we need to find a lead as quickly as possible. The sooner we do, the sooner we can find the goods before something happens to them."

"He's got a point there," replied Bailey. "So how do we do that?"

"I think I might know!" said a voice. The five Louds turned around, and Warren smiled widely. It was Danny standing proudly in his One-Eyed Jack Beaver costume. "Hey, Ace and gang!"

"Hey Danny!" chimed Bethany. 'What's up, Danster?", said Bailey. "Hello there", Bella said softly. "Yeah, hi," grumbled Brenda.

"Yo, One-Eyed Jack Beaver!" chanted Warren. "Glad you can join us on this trek, cadet!"

"Happy to be of assistance!" said Danny. "So I hear your looking for a way to get some info about your dad's garden, right?"

"Right you are," replied Warren. "Only problem is, we're not sure how to ask these any of the animals here without spending too much time."

"No problem!" said Danny. "My dads and I come to this part of the river many times, so I know most of these guys pretty well. I can give you guys a quick rundown of what I know about them."

"That's great!" Warren said with a smile. "So what can you tell us?"

Danny checked out the animals hanging around that part of the river. He pointed at a couple of otters fishing on the shore. "Okay so those two are Matt and Pat, some real good friends of my dads'. They mostly just spend their time fishing. Only thing is, they don't ever remember to use bait, so all they ever catch are twigs are rocks and whatnot."

"Woah," replied Bethany. "They don't sound like the brightest bunch."

"Yeah… they really aren't,'' said Danny, "so those guys probably couldn't raid an entire garden even if they wanted to."

"Okay, so we have our least likely suspect," Warren responded. "Bethany, take that down ." Bethany started jotting down information. "So who else can you fill us in on, One-Eyed Jack?"

"Well, there's also Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth and their brood," Danny said, pointing to a large family of cheerful ducks having a picnic while the ducklings played. "They're pretty friendly mostly, except when there's a piece of bread in sight." After Danny said that, all the ducks froze upon spotting a bread chunk in the grass, then started a fight with loud quacking as they jumped for it. "Morning, Danny!" Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth paused to greet Danny before continuing to brawl.

"Good morning!" Danny replied, before gesturing to a beautiful swan girl reading on the park bench. "And there's Jenny Swanson. She usually keeps to herself, but she doesn't like being approached too much." Just then, a male swan dressed in a tuxedo and carrying a bouquet of flowers waddled over to the bench, sat next to Jenny, and cleared his throat. Jenny peeked from her book and turned toward the swan, who smiled widely and presented his flowers. Jenny responded with a loud "HISS", which sent the frightened swan running off, before turning back to her book.

"Yeowch," Bailey said in shock. "What a diva."

"Well, that's actually just a swan thing," Danny replied with a shrug. "Still, I highly doubt she would gain anything from stealing your vegetables. And then there's Huckle Marsh", he said pointing to a well-dressed muskrat. "He…"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait" Warren interrupted. "Did you say Huckle Marsh? He's one of the best gardeners this side of the forest, and the grand marshal for the Crop Busters Competition! One-Eyed Jack Beaver, you're a genius!"

"Yeah! You couldn't have led with him?" Brenda said.

"Oh yeah! Your dad won several of the 1st prize ribbons for that, hasn't he?" Danny said. "I guess it's a good thing they discontinued the contest, because he wouldn't be able to enter it now." Danny chuckled, but slowly stopped as Warren and his sisters stared at him unamused. "Eh, not that it's a good thing his vegetables were stolen", he nervously replied.

"He knows every master gardener in the forest, so maybe he can lead us to the culprit!" Warren said eagerly, before starting to walk toward Mr. Marsh. Danny stepped in his way. "Woah, woah, woah, I'm afraid you might wanna kill the motor on that one, Ace. You see, there was a reason the Crop Busters stopped being held, and frankly, Mr. Marsh doesn't like to reflect on that reason at all. So much so, he's never told anyone what it was. Even bringing up the issue of vegetables can put him in a… bit of a mood."

"A mood?" Warren said with disbelief. "Mr. Marsh is one of the most mild-mannered animals in the forest. I'm sure if we're respectful, he won't be afraid to come forward. Come on, sisters!"

With cheerful and polite grins on their faces, though in Brenda's case, a forced one, the five siblings approached Mr. Marsh as he went along on his late morning stroll in the park. "Howdy, Mr. Marsh!" they all chimed together.

"Well, cut my cattails!" Mr. Marsh hollered with eyes wided. "If it isn't a fraction of the Loud clan!

How've you half-pints been doing?"

"Fantastic, sir!" Warren replied. "Quite punctual!" Bethany followed. "Just knockin' them out of the park!" Bailey chanted. "Another day in quote-unquote ''paradise'''', sighed Bella. "Eh, fine I guess", Brenda grumpily muttered.

"Stupendous!" Mr. Marsh replied cheerfully. "Haven't seen your parents in quite some time either. What are they up to these days?"

The five Louds kept smiling, then started to chuckle nervously. None of them were sure how to approach Mr. Marsh with this situation. "Well... you see sir", Warren muttered. "Seeing as how it's, well… that time of year..."

"September?" Mr. Marsh said. "Ah, yes! Lovely month, isn't it? The leaves are looking prettier every day! So are they raking leaves the day away yet?"

"Well… no" Warren slowly replied. "Actually… seeing as how it's that time of year…"

"Ugh! For the love of carrots!" Brenda couldn't take it anymore. "Someone has taken our dad's vegetables, and we're looking to see who might have done it, and we're wondering if you can give us any clues?!"

"Oh…" Mr. Marsh uttered in shock. Brenda received some furious glares from her siblings. "Jeez, sorry, but we were running out of time with Warren's hemming and hawing!"

"Well, thanks to you, Mr. Marsh may not want to help us now!" Bethany retorted.

"Now hold on there youngsters!" Mr. Marsh interjected. "There's no reason to start bickering. So what's this about your dad, again?"

Warren sighed. He had no choice but to be straight with Mr. Marsh now. "Well sir, our dad's vegetables all went missing right at harvest time, and I understand you don't like to be part of these situations, but we really need your help in figuring out where they might be."

After hearing Warren's plea, Mr. Marsh replied firmly," You're darn tootin' about that I'm afraid. I've put the days of veggie growing behind me years ago. Right now I'm even following a strict diet of shellfish!"

"But why?" Bailey asked. "You were a top-shelf gardener, and the Crop Busters was the hit of the season every year! What could have happened?"

"I really wish I could tell you kiddos", Mr. Marsh said solemnly, "but even discussing it is too hard for me to bear."

"We understand sir," Warren said with reverence, "but can you at least try to help us in the right direction? Our dad would greatly appreciate it if the great Huckle Marsh helped to find his missing veggies."

Mr. Marsh looked into the pleading eyes of Warren, then he turned his head thoughtfully and pondered hard. "Hmmm… well, your dad was indeed a fine gardener, so who am I to let a fellow Crop Buster down?"

"So you'll help then?" Warren and his sisters smiled hopefully.

"Of course I'll help y'all out!" Mr. Marsh said with gusto.

"Woohoo!" chanted the Loud siblings.

"But we best get a move on", Mr. Marsh insisted. "Standing around here ain't gonna accomplish anything. Just give me a rundown on what happened and I'll see what I can do from there."

"Not a problem," Bethany proclaimed. "I have the entire morning events listed down right here!"

As the group made their way further down the trail, Danny ran up next to Warren."Holy oaks, Ace! I never would have expected you to turn him around just like that."

"Just goes to show you, Jack", Warren replied, "all you need is to be honest and respectful to get the right people on your side."

"Hmm…" Danny thought out loud. "I wonder if that would work for Betty".

"What's that?" Warren wondered. "Nothing," Danny quickly said defensively. The crew and their newfound helper continued their hunt, unaware of a suspicious character watching them from the bushes...


	4. Team Two

**Editor's Note: Hey guys! I made a few adjustments to my previous chapters, the major one being added descriptions to each Loud sister to make it easier to tell them apart. This was an afterthought that I felt would be helpful to those struggling with figuring out who's who.**

"Saturday, the 27th of September, 16 after the hour of 9:00 a.m. It was at this moment in time the Loud sisters and their lone brother trod through the forest in search of their father's missing vegetation. The journey is probably fraught with danger, but the stalwart siblings continue forward boldly and daringly!" Birdie was narrating epically out loud as Team Two headed down the west path, but her sisters just looked at her in confusion and worry.

"Uh... come again, dude?" Barbara responded.

"Sorry", Birdie giggled. "I like to speak in literary terms during moments like this."

"Well, do you have to use words like "danger"?" Blair said with discomfort. "I don't think I'm wearing the proper dress for that."

"No need to worry, Blair," Birdie reassured her sister, "I'm just paraphrasing from a mystery/adventure book I've been reading: "Lance Leporid and the Disappearance of Woody Chuck's Wood." She displayed the book she had in her hands. "It's mostly just fiction, though."

"That's too bad", Bebe, the clownish sister piped in, "because that sounds like a pretty _hopping_ adventure. Ha ha ha ha!" All of the sisters groaned at that pun.

"My heart really breaks for Dad right now", Belinda, the cupid sister said, clutching her chest. "Is there any way we can help him find his beloved veggies?"

Birdie peered into her book and flipped through a few pages. "Well, if we were to imitate Lance Leporid, we could start by thinking over who would have the strongest motive for stealing them. Anyone have any ideas?"

The five sisters thought hard for a few seconds. "Well, what about Mr. Goose next door?" Barbara stated. "He's always honking about how Dad's gardening causes so much noise, at least whenever he's not yelling about my guitar playing."

"Hmm…" thought Birdie. "Well, Mr. Goose may be cranky, but I don't think he would go so far as to steal everything from Dad's garden. If anything, he may have been waiting for the garden to get harvested so he could finally be free of the noise. Any other suggestions? Try to think a little bigger." A few more seconds passed as the sisters pondered again.

"Wait!" Bebe suddenly said. "Since Dad was in the Crop Busters before, what about one of the other competitors?"

"Of course!" said Birdie, "The motive is perfect; a bitter rival seeks vengeance by stealing from the winning contestant!"

"You did it, Bebe! I could just hug you right now!" Belinda squealed before giving Bebe a bear hug, until she was suddenly sprayed by her sister's flower squirter. "Woop, sorry. I guess your wet behind the ears now. Ha ha ha ha!" The sisters groaned again, while Belinda shook the water off her face and wrung out her ears.

"So, like, who are we talking about?" Blair asked.

"Oh, that's easy," Birdie said. "The runner-up for the Crop Busters for eight consecutive years: Martin Hutcherson!" The rest of the sisters gasped in response.

"Dude, that guy hated Dad's guts!" Barbara exclaimed. "He was always trying to beat Dad every year no matter what. I remember at the end of the final competition last year, he told Dad, "You may have outgrown me for eight years, but one day I'll outgrow you, when you least expect it!""

"Well, you don't get any more obvious than that", said Bebe.

"Precisely," replied Birdie. "Now we just need a way to track the prime suspect. Anybody know where Martin Hutcherson may be?

All of the sisters gave unsure answers. "You got me, dude," said Barbara. "Sorry", shrugged Belinda. "Not sure, seriously", replied Bebe. "Wait, who's Martin Hutcherson?" asked a confused Blair.

"Hmm, well let's see what Lance Leporid would do in this situation," said Birdie, opening her book and skimming through pages. "Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, aha!"

"Yeah?" the other four sisters said anxiously.

"It says here that Lance would continue forward until he found what he was looking for!" replied Birdie. The sisters briefly glanced at one another. "So, what does that mean exactly?" asked Belinda.

"It means we keep walking until the signs pointing to Hutcherson's whereabouts become clear," Birdie replied. "Onward, my sisters!" The other four were uncertain, but they followed their bookish sister further down the trail. They continued on for five minutes, with nothing to report. "Well, I haven't seen anything yet", said Bebe, "it seems the quest for the vegetables might be _fruit_less. Ha ha ha ha!"

"Yeah I have to agree with Bebe on that one", Barbara sighed, "I don't think we're getting anywhere with this. How can we be so sure we'll find anything on Hutcherson going this way?"

"Patience is the key to the door of success!" Birdie exclaimed. "Just at least a hundred more steps and the answers shall present themselves."

All of the sisters groaned at Birdie's remark. "Well, I might as well get good ol' Stringer tuned up", Barbara said, pulling her acoustic guitar off her back. She turned the tuners on her strings, and was getting ready to strum, until she heard another faint strum. Her ears stood erect after hearing it. "Woah, did you guys hear that?"

"Yeah," responded Blair. "You might wanna keep tuning that, because I couldn't hear it too well".

"No, that wasn't me dude", said Barbara, before pointing. "It's coming from that direction." The five of them followed the strumming in the distance. It progressively got louder and louder until they found a lone raccoon sitting on a tree stump playing the guitar. The sisters were amazed, but especially Barbara. The raccoon was so into his music, he didn't even hear the sisters approaching. Barbara walked up to him, "Woah, those are some awesome chops you got there!"

The raccoon briefly stopped and looked at Barbara for a few seconds. "Thank you, kind rabbit gal", he responded, "but if you don't mind, I prefer to be left alone to bask in the musical essence." He went back to strumming his guitar intensely, before Birdie interrupted him again. "While we... sort of understand, sir, we would really appreciate it if…"

"Ah, ah, ah", the raccoon stopped Birdie mid-sentence, "again I say, please leave this cat to play in peace." He began to strum again. "Cat?" said a confused Blair. "But you're a raccoon."

As the raccoon continued to play his music, the sisters sighed together. They weren't going to get anywhere very soon with him. Just then, Barbara pitched in, "Don't worry dudes, I got just the tabs to get on this guy's level!" She whipped out her guitar, walked back up to the raccoon, and strummed a few tabs on her guitar. The raccoon gazed at her with fascination as she played, then responded by playing the same tabs. This repeated on and on for roughly a minute, with each player strumming their guitar faster and faster. The remaining four Louds watched with awe at this display, until both players ended their duet with a loud "STRUM".

"Woohoo, bravo!" cheered the Loud sisters. The raccoon hopped off his tree stump and shook Barbara's hand. "Well, Miss Rockin' Rabbit, looks like you managed to get on Orville's good side! What can I do for you fine hares?"

"Well, long story short, brah, we're looking for a rabbit named Martin Hutcherson," said Barbara. "We believe he may be linked to our family's missing garden," Birdie followed up.

"Hutcherson. Missing garden," Orville pondered over these words carefully. "Hmm, I think I happen to know just the place for you to check out, if you'll just follow the ringed-tail." He led the five down a brief trail, leading to a large market square with booths at every corner.

"Woah!" The Louds stared in amazement at this sight. There were shoppers everywhere and tons of fruits, vegetables, and other wares on display. "The farmer's market!" squealed Belinda. "And it's booming this year!" said Barbara.

"Oh yes, bunny friends!" replied Orville. "This happens to be my top hangout spot every fall during harvest season, with fresh farm-raised products out the wazoo! If there's anywhere this Martin Hutcherson fellow might be with your family's crops, it ought to be here."

"Of course," Birdie exclaimed. "That thief must have robbed our garden to make a profit off of dad's vegetables as payback for being beaten every year!"

"That must mean he's in one of these booths!" replied Barbara. "Or he's over there", Bebe pointed out. Indeed, there was a rabbit, dressed in a vest and tie, with a sour expression on his face, examining some tomatoes at a booth.

"Aha! The prime suspect has been detected!" shouted Birdie. "Wow, Orville, you really rock in more ways than one!" Barbara said. "Yeah, I could just give you a hug!" Belinda cried, spreading her arms wide, until Orville stopped her. "Ah, ah, ah, you don't hug Orville, Orville hugs you," he said, before squeezing Belinda in a bear hug. After being let go, an enamored Belinda sighed loudly.

"Well, happy to be of assistance," said Orville, "but I've got a market to admire. I'll catch you gals on the flipside!" As he strolled off, the Louds gave their thanks and goodbyes, "Bye!" Later, Orville! Thank you!" Belinda sighed again, "Isn't he such a charmer?"

"Okay, so we got our guy," said Barbara, "now what do we do?"

"Well, according to Lance Leporid", replied Birdie, "the best course of action would be to charge at the villain in blind fury. On my mark!" The five Louds prepared to charge with angry expressions on their faces. "3, 2, 1, attack!" The Louds started running toward Martin screaming at the top of their lungs. Martin turned to see what the commotion was, and saw five furious rabbits coming at him. "What the?!" Before he had time to respond, he was tackled and knocked to the ground, then pounded on and bitten by the Louds. Everyone stared in shock and confusion while this was going on

"Alright Hutcherson, give us the goods right now!" Birdie yelled. "Yeah, brah, we're onto you!" replied Barbara. "Yeah! Wait, why are we doing this again?" said Blair.

"Martin!" screamed a female rabbit, carrying a basket alongside a small group of kids. "What is going on?!" The Louds stopped beating on Martin. "I'll tell you what's going on, ma'am", said Birdie. "This rabbit is the prime suspect in the disappearance of our dad's garden!"

Martin leaned upward and wiped the dirt off his face. "What the Sam Hill are you talking about?! Wait, I know you guys, you're Loud's daughters! I should have known."

"We certainly are!" said Bebe, before pointing at Martin. "And we know you took our dad's garden to get back at him!" "Yeah!" the others agreed.

"What?!" Martin stood up. "That's what happened to our garden too!"

This revelation hit the five sisters like a ton of bricks. "I-I'm sorry, what?" Birdie responded.

"Yeah, we got up at the crack of dawn, ready to harvest our _superior_ garden, but there was nothing to be seen. I'm here with my family trying to scrounge the market for some low-quality produce just to keep us well-fed!" "Hey!" shouted the offended vendor.

"So, you weren't trying to sell dad's vegetables just now?" asked Barbara.

"Of course not!" replied an irritable Martin. "Loud may have undeservedly won each Crop Buster, but I ain't dishonorable!" He groaned loudly, "Come on, Helen, kids. Let's keep on shopping." Martin and his family started walking away. The Louds exchanged guilty looks with one another. They ran up to Martin.

"Wait! Mr. Hutcherson", Birdie cried. "What is it now?!" "We're sorry that we jumped to conclusions like that, and we're sorry we got a little rough with you."

"A little?" scoffed Martin. "That's a laugh."

"But what if we tried to help you find your vegetables while we search for ours? I'm sure there must be a connection to the missing two gardens." "Yeah dude," replied Barbara, "it's the least we can do for you at this point."

"Mmm…" Martin thought this over hard. As hesitant as he was, this may be his only chance at reclaiming his vegetables. "Alright, deal, but only because I wish to find my crops safe and sound. Helen, take the kids, I'll have our livelihood back by this evening."

The five Louds and their reluctant companion moved along through the marketplace, but the news of not one, but two missing gardens had all of their minds wondering; Who could have stolen them, were there any more missing, and most importantly, why were they stolen?


End file.
